Averse

Chapter 7 - Past

"Geno...?"

Error whipped around at the unfamiliar voice, instantly grappling its owner with his strings. "Who are you?! How did you get in here?!" His voice was booming and threatening as he yelled at the cloaked skeleton that was now entangled within the mess of blue threads. The stranger looked up at him, eyes wide with fear and despair. The corners of his mouth began to tremble as he spoke so softly that Error had to strain to hear him. "Oh, Geno... what happened to you...?" The glitchy skeleton pulled the stranger ever so slightly closer, stepping forward so they were more face-to-face. "Why do you keep calling me that? And, again, how did you get in?!" The cloaked figure's eyes went wide, tears pricking at the sockets. "You..." his voice shook as he spoke. "You really don't remember me...?" Error shook his head, glaring as he maintained his hold. It should have been impossible for anyone to get into the anti-void without Error's permission!

"No," he started tentatively. "I don't know who you are, I don't know how you got here, and I certainly don't know who this 'Geno' guy is. You had better start talking before I squeeze the life out of you!" The strings tightened around the stranger to accentuate his point. His gaze softened, however, when he saw the mysterious skeleton's face twist and distort in an anguished grimace, tears beginning to slip down the ivory of his cheekbones. A quiet sob ripped its way out of his throat as he lay limply within the strings, almost as if they were the only things holding him up. "I don't believe it," he choked out with a cynical smile shaking against his tear-streaked face. He chuckled darkly before continuing. "Ten years later, I finally find you and you have mega-amnesia...!"

Error looked around awkwardly, praying that he might disappear at any moment to escape this situation. Eventually he turned back to the crying skeleton before him, kneeling down on the ground and beckoning for him to do the same. "Please," he offered as warmly as he could. "Sit down, tell me about 'Geno'."

The tall stranger looked down at him, sniffing as he attempted to dry his tears and still the tremble in his voice. Letting the strings fall loosely around him, he collapsed in a kneeling position in front of Error. The glitchy skeleton waited patiently for the stranger to collect himself. Finally, after a few more moments of sniffling, he finally spoke. "You're absolutely certain you don't remember anything...? Th-The Save Screen...? The little place we built there? Y-Your brother! Y-You have to remember your brother, right?!" Error sadly shook his head, fighting to make sense of what the cloaked skeleton was saying. He watched any lingering hope drain from the being before him, causing a stab of pain in his soul. The skeleton sighed, averting his gaze toward the floor before speaking again. "Geno and I were together for about three and a half years," he whispered softly. "I...loved him with all of my heart. I went out for work one day and... and when I got back to the Save Screen, he had disappeared..."

The miserable voice was weak with pain as Error stared at him empathetically. He wished he could remember for this stranger's sake– that is, if he was telling the truth. "I'm sorry you lost your boyfriend," he mumbled awkwardly. The other skeleton looked up at him pitifully, his hands coming to rest near his chest as he clutched one of them within the other. "He was my husband," he corrected with an agonizing tremble to his voice. Error jolted in surprise, catching a flash of gold from the other's hand. He assumed it was a wedding band due to this new information. Something about it struck him as... familiar, though he couldn't quite place it. Part of him wanted to reach out and comfort the distressed skeleton before him, but he knew he wasn't nearly comfortable enough with this complete stranger for his haphephobia not to go wild. Still, though, there was a very buried part of him that screamed out for him to comfort the broken man. He still didn't even know the guy's name, for star's sake! Now certainly would be a poor time to ask, though, so he decided to wait for a better opportunity.